Sprint Named Enterprise and Midmarket Trusted Advisor by Nemertes Research

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Sprint Business (NYSE:S) has been named a Trusted Advisor for the Enterprise and Midmarket segments by Nemertes Research, a research-advisory and strategic-consulting firm that specializes in quantifying the business value of emerging technologies.

Sprint is only one of six companies, and the only wireless company, receiving this dual accolade, as selected from interviews and surveys of more than 1,000 IT professionals rating the vendors they consider "vital to achieving their business and technology goals."

The study provided insight from IT professionals who ranked Sprint as a trusted advisor, which is involved in helping to set and usually execute on business-technology strategy. Some of the common characteristics that propelled Sprint into this elite group include successful performance for business customers, technology expertise, trustworthy character, effective customer relations, and a history of innovation.

"Sprint works to provide the best solution," said the IT director for a retailer.

"The job of IT leaders is becoming more complex by the day, and they need help with everything from mobile-enabling their business to effectively leveraging the cloud to becoming more innovative," says Robin Gareiss, president and co-founder of Nemertes Research. "In this demanding environment, they need trusted advisors to provide objective guidance. Based on detailed ratings from enterprise and midmarket IT professionals for two years, Sprint consistently is filling the role of trusted advisor."

"The Sprint Business team is a trusted extension of our customers' operations, as we have demonstrated that we can take on the role as their CIO and help them to deliver on their full potential," said Matt Carter, president-Sprint Business. "As the only wireless carrier to achieve the Trusted Advisor for the Enterprise and Midmarket segments in 2014, Sprint is leading the way in innovation and delivering the tools that enable businesses to better equip themselves now for the way work gets done in the future. Helping businesses large and small understand and harness advanced collaboration and mobility tools is our forte, with the goal of keeping their employees engaged, productive and working better together so the business can grow faster."

In 2013, Sprint was recognized as an "Enterprise Trusted Advisor" in the first year of the Nemertes Enterprise Trusted Advisor™ program. In previous years, Sprint received the Nemertes Pilothouse award for MPLS Services. As the Top Provider among Market Challengers, Sprint achieved highest scores in customer service and value within the category, while remaining consistently strong in technology.

For more information about Nemertes' program and Sprint's designations, review these summaries for Enterprise and Midmarket.

About Nemertes Research

Nemertes Research is a research-advisory and strategic-consulting firm that specializes in analyzing and quantifying the business value of emerging technologies. You can learn more about Nemertes Research at www.nemertes.com.

About Sprint Business

Sprint Business provides a range of simple, flexible services that help workforces to collaborate, mobilize and accelerate. As work changes, the winners will be the businesses that remove obstacles to best empower their employees to drive business success. Our solutions are designed specifically to help our customers' people work better together, be more engaged and enjoy their jobs more. To learn more, visit www.sprint.com/futureofwork and join the conversation.

About Sprint

Sprint (NYSE:S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served more than 54 million customers as of June 30, 2014 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved U.S. company in customer satisfaction, across all 43 industries, over the last six years. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America in 2011, 2012 and 2013. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

• Business
• Nemertes Research

Contact:

Sprint
John Votava, 949-748-3403
john.votava@sprint.com

 

No longer interested email from Mining News?. Please click here to unsubscribe

Energy, health care earnings to dominate week

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)—Earnings from the energy and health care sectors will dominate investor attention as respective heavyweights report following a week where upside earnings surprises lifted the broader market out of a slump.

The broader market comes off a big week with the Dow Jones Industrial Average












DJIA, +0.76%










 finishing up 2.6%, the S&P 500 index












SPX, +0.71%










 having its best gain of 2014 with a 4.1% advance, and the Nasdaq Composite Index












COMP, +0.69%










 closing up 5.3%.

Dow components reporting this week

Company/Ticker	Report date	Estimated EPS / revenue	Market cap
Merck & Co. MRK, +1.73%	Oct. 27	88 cents / $10.64 billion	$163.36 billion
Pfizer Inc. PFE, +1.78%	Oct. 28	55 cents / $12.27 billion	$181.35 billion
DuPont DD, +0.60%	Oct. 28	53 cents / $7.95 billion	$62.78 billion
Visa Inc. V, -0.37%	Oct. 29	$2.10 / $3.19 billion	$133.53 billion
Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +0.40%	Oct. 31	$1.72 / $103.46 billion	$401.35 billion
Chevron Corp. CVX, -0.24%	Oct. 31	$2.54 / $52.97 billion	$220.64 billion

Out of the six Dow components reporting, two are the biggest names in the energy sector and two represent heavyweights in heathcare. The week also sees more than 150 companies on S&P 500 reporting.

The two sectors represent polar opposites of the broader market this year: Healthcare is the best performer on the S&P 500 while energy has fallen to a loss on the year following a plunge in oil prices.

Energy kept pace with health care until oil prices dropped.

Energy earnings expectations slip on slumping oil prices

Energy earnings are expected to take a big third-quarter hit. At the beginning of the third quarter, August crude oil futures were trading at about $105 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. By the end of September, the most actively traded futures contract settled just above $91 a barrel, a 13% decline over the quarter.

Exxon Mobil is expected to report quarterly earnings of $1.72 a share, down from the $1.91 a share consensus expected at the start of the third quarter, according to FactSet data.

Similarly, Chevron is estimated to report third-quarter earnings of $2.54 a share, down from the $2.79 a share consensus that started that quarter. ConocoPhillips earnings are expected at $1.19 a share, down from a forecast $1.48 a share at the beginning of the quarter. Earnings for the sector are expected to decline 1% from a year ago.

The outlook for the sector isn't looking much better. Since the end of September, analysts have slashed energy earnings estimates for the fourth quarter, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet.

"As a result of these cuts to estimates, the Energy sector has recorded the largest decrease in expected earnings growth (to -4.7% from 7.0%) of all 10 sectors during this time," Butters said in a recent note.

Health care looks healthiest on the revenue side

Health care earnings are much better positioned this season. The sector is expected to see earnings growth of 12.4% in the third quarter and the best revenue growth of any other sector at 10.2%. In addition to Pfizer and Merck, it's a big week for biotechs Gilead Sciences, Amgen, and AbbVie, along with drug distributor McKesson and pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts.

As far as earnings growth for the sector, Gilead is expected to do the heavy lifting. Excluding the biotech's contribution, earnings growth for the health-care sector is estimated at 5.7%, according to FactSet's Butters.

Social media to have its say

The social media side of tech will have some big shoes to fill following earnings beats from Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple this past week. Earnings reports from Twitter and Facebook will start off and the week.

Notable earnings reports this week

Report Date	Company/Ticker (FactSet consensus EPS / revenue)
Oct. 27	Amgen Inc. AMGN, +0.01%  ($2.11 / $4.96 billion) Twitter Inc. TWTR, +0.56%  (1 cent / $351.1 million) Seagate Technology PLC STX, +3.26%  ($1.24 / $3.62 billion)
Oct. 28	Facebook Inc. FB, +0.79%  (40 cents / $3.12 billion) Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD, +3.29%  ($1.92 / $5.98 billion) McKesson Corp. MCK, +1.05%  ($2.73 / $42.98 billion)
Oct. 29	Express Scripts Holding Co. ESRX, +0.81%  ($1.29 / $24.9 billion) Anadarko Petroleum Corp. APC, -1.29%  ($1.27 / $4.25 billion) Phillips 66 PSX, +0.49%  ($1.69 / $47.8 billion)
Oct. 30	Starbucks Corp. SBUX, +1.30%  (74 cents / $4.24 billion) MasterCard Inc. MA, -0.12%  (78 cents / $2.45 billion) ConocoPhillips COP, +0.10%  ($1.19 / $13.63 billion)
Oct. 31	AbbVie Inc. ABBV, +1.29%  (77 cents / $4.82 billion) NextEra Energy Inc. NEE, +0.57%  ($1.55 / $4.52 billion) Dominion Resources Inc. D, +0.88%  (96 cents / $3.33 billion)

Sprint Jointly Awarded #1 Ranking in Call and Text Network Performance in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced that its all-new network in Omaha, Nebraska, received shared first-place RootScore^® Awards for call and text performance, according to a recent report by independent mobile analytics firm RootMetrics^®.

"We've been working hard to improve our network and we're proud to offer outstanding call and text performance to our customers in Omaha," said Joe Meyer, vice president of Sprint Network Performance. "Our new pricing plans offer the best value in wireless, making this a great time to give Sprint a try."

Sprint has been building an all-new network in Omaha and the surrounding areas. As part of the overhaul, the company has transformed its network to deliver faster data speeds than before, along with improved call quality. Network improvements include:

• 4G LTE for faster, more reliable data delivering peak wireless speeds of 25Mbps.
• Stronger in-building coverage using 800MHz low frequency spectrum.
• HD Voice, a new Sprint standard for crystal-clear voice calls providing a fuller, more natural-sounding voice on enabled devices, plus noise reduction technology that virtually eliminates background noise from places like a busy road or crowded restaurant.

Looking ahead, Sprint will continue to invest in its Nebraska network by implementing new technologies and techniques to make the network more efficient and deliver improved performance and faster data speeds.

Best Value in Wireless

In addition to offering an all-new network, Sprint is also committed to providing U.S. consumers and businesses the best value in wireless, with plans that include double the data compared to AT&T and Verizon Wireless at the same or lower monthly price. With the Sprint Family Share Pack, Sprint offers double the sharable data¹ for smartphones, basic phones, tablets and mobile broadband devices. Sprint also offers customers unlimited talk, text and data for $60 per month with the Sprint $60 Unlimited Plan – a $20 savings per month compared to T-Mobile's $80 unlimited plan². In addition, Sprint Business Share plans are available for any mobile device and offer the flexibility for businesses to select data plans at competitive prices for almost any data need, up to 800GB for up to 100 lines.

About RootMetrics:

RootMetrics, an independent mobile analytics firm that offers insights into the consumer mobile experience, tests the networks of all four major wireless carriers in the U.S. twice per year. The company provides objective, unbiased assessments of performance across a broad range of consumer-oriented mobile activities including data usage, calling, and texting. Network reliability measures a customer's ability to establish and keep a data connection, make and retain a call, and send and receive texts.

Rankings are based on RootMetrics Omaha (September 2014) RootScore Report for mobile performance as tested on best available plans and devices on 4 mobile networks across all available network types. The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of Sprint. Your results may vary. See www.rootmetrics.com for details.

About Sprint:

Sprint (NYSE:S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served more than 54 million customers as of June 30, 2014 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved U.S. company in customer satisfaction, across all 43 industries, over the last six years. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America in 2011, 2012 and 2013. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

¹To improve the data experience for the majority of users, throughput speeds may be limited, varied or reduced on the network.
²Compared to T-Mobile's $80 Simple Choice Plan with unlimited high-speed data, unlimited International text and data features, Rhapsody unRadio and 5GB of tethering per mo. See carrier website for additional details.

• Technology & Electronics
• Telecommunication
• Sprint

Contact:

Sprint
Stephanie Greenwood, 913-315-1612
stephanie.greenwood@sprint.com

Sprint Wants To Give You A New iPhone Every Year, But Whose Deal Is Best?

When Apple launched the iPhone 6 last month, Sprint saw an opportunity to bring the Apple faithful over to the nation's third-place carrier. Dubbed "iPhone for Line," the new offering allowed customers to get Apple's latest smartphone by making monthly payments while paying nothing up front. With Verizon and AT&T offering similar installment offerings, Sprint's plan was in some ways less exciting than the marketing might have suggested. But now the carrier is back with an upgrade that allows you to get a new iPhone every year. While most people are well served by keeper their phones longer, if you're one who always needs the latest and greatest model Sprint's new deal is an intriguing option.

'iMust have a new phone'

To best understand what Sprint is offering, it helps to remember that a new iPhone 6 in the smallest configuration (16GB) really costs $649. For years the carriers have been hiding that from you through the once-every-two-year $199 upgrade. But you've always been paying the higher price in the form of your monthly bill. This is easier than ever to see thanks to plans like AT&T Next and Verizon Edge where you can get a discount of up to $25 per line in return for passing up that discounted phone and instead paying for it a little bit each month ($27.08 on Verizon, for example, which your calculator will tell you is just a hair over $649 when multiplied by the 24 required payments).

With Sprint, you can bump that installment fee up to $30 and get a brand new iPhone every year. You will have to give back the old one — after all you've only paid $360 out of that $649 — and it needs to be in good condition. Sprint will also collect the sales tax associated with the purchase and, of course, you'll be on the hook for whatever rate plan you choose.



Sprinting to the front?

Where it gets confusing is that each carrier has slightly different rules for precisely when and how you can take get a new phone, Apple or otherwise. Consider how the big four treat the situation. (All these examples use a 16GB iPhone 6, but you can get any memory configuration you want and, of course, the iPhone 6 Plus as well.)

Verizon Edge, $27.08 monthly, upgrade after 30 days so long as you pay 75% of the total owed

This plan is ridiculously flexible on timing in that you can literally upgrade every month. But doing so is pricey. After a year, you'd have to make a one-time payment of $162 and hand over your phone to get a new iPhone. When Verizon first offered Edge, you could trade-in devices with just 50% of the balance paid off and the deal looked very good; now it no longer does. If you can afford to just buy a phone at full price, you might as well pay the $649 and then trade in the iPhone a year later for what will typically be around $300. That "net cost" of $349 beats the $486 you'd pay on Edge for the same privilege.

Either way, Verizon will cut $25 off your monthly bill so long as you have a plan with 10GB or more of data each month. For families or other groups, this works great; for individuals, however, smaller plans only get a $15 per line discount. For that reason, if you have your own plan you should stick with a subsidized phone and take the $199 deal.

AT&T Next, $27.09 monthly to upgrade in 18 months, $32.50 to upgrade in 12

In some ways, AT&T offers the best of Sprint and Verizon here but in some ways it offers the worst. If you want a 12-month upgrade, you pay a bit more and you get it. AT&T does charge $32.50 while Sprint only asks $30 though. AT&T also offers a different Next plan, that slightly shortens the 2-year requirement with a Verizon Edge-like price of $27.09 and a chance to upgrade in 18 months. So you pay as much as you would with Edge, but you can't accelerate faster than 18 months. That's a weird option for most people given both Apple and competitors like Samsung tend to come out with new models at approximately the same time each year.

Perhaps the worst part of the AT&T deal is the need to choose early on. Verizon's offering is more flexible. AT&T's is cheaper if you're sure you'll upgrade in 12 months ($390 vs. that $486 on Verizon). Oh, and the same rules about discounts apply: $25 off with 10GB plans and $15 without. Families get the most from Next, individuals should stick with $199 phones.

T-Mobile, $27.08 monthly, upgrade whenever you want by paying off the phone

The Un-carrier gets this the most right of anyone. You're buying the phone with the equivalent of a 0% interest credit card and T-Mobile will extend you this deal once per line. When you're ready for another phone just pay off this one. You then own the phone and can trade it in or sell it yourself. Because T-Mobile doesn't offer any subsidized phones anymore, there are no discounts on monthly plans — all plans are priced with the assumption you will either buy a phone outright or finance it this way.

In essence, T-Mobile is giving you the best of all worlds. You get a phone you will own and can dispose of in the way that's most favorable to you at the time that's most favorable to you. But unlike what you now almost have to do with Verizon, you can finance that phone over 24 months at no extra cost. The only catch is whether T-Mobile's coverage and service will meet your needs. For many, it will.

The power of the iPhone

There has been endless speculation that the move away from subsidized phones was going to hurt Apple. It should be clear that so far, nothing could be further from the truth. Carriers are continuing to promote the iPhone as aggressively as ever and Apple's share of the U.S. smartphone market has reached 42% even before the launch of the new larger-screen models. If anything, the early victim is Samsung whose flagship Galaxy S5 is nearly as expensive on an installment basis (right around $25 against $27 for the iPhone) but whose margins are already under pressure as its high-end sales slow.

Apple, meanwhile, reported 20% growth in iPhone sales last quarter when it had less than two weeks of results from the iPhone 6 to throw into the mix. Clearly carriers believe upgraders and the few latecomers to smartphones are still motivated by iPhone and are therefore tailoring offerings around it. Sprint's latest plan, if it proves a success will have those Apple faithful in to pick up a new iPhone each and every year while competitors' similar offerings try to do the same. Whichever carrier you choose, it seems Apple wins.

Follow me on Twitter. Read the rest of my Forbes posts here.

No longer interested email from Mining News?. Please click here to unsubscribe

Stocks end higher; S&P 500 nabs biggest weekly gain of year

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed with solid gains Friday, handing the S&P 500 SPX, +0.71% its largest weekly advance of 2014. Investors shrugged off worries about New York’s first Ebola case, which had weighed on U.S. stock futures. Sentiment got a lift from stronger-than-anticipated housing data and better-than-expected quarterly results from companies such as Procter & Gamble Co. PG, +2.32% The S&P 500 finished up 13.75 points, or 0.7%, to 1964.57, according to early data. The benchmark rose 4.1% for the week, snapping a four-week losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.76% advanced by 127.51 points, or 0.8%, to close at 16,805.41 on Friday, according to early data. It gained 2.6% for the week, also halting a four-week losing streak. Read the full story here.

What your dog's costume says about the economy: The week ahead